This invention relates to racks used for storage and transportation of projectiles. More specifically, this invention relates to a projectile rack having a gang locking mechanism to securely hold projectiles within a plurality of parallel horizontally disposed storage tubes.
The modern war is often a war of logistics where the winner is determined by the ability to efficiently transport men and material. Accordingly, it is essential to optimize the conveyance of projectiles, shells, and more generally ammunition.
For simplicity, "projectiles" as used herein shall be considered to include shells, missiles, torpedos, bombs, and more generally ammunition.
The storage or transportion of projectiles generally requires a balancing between two conflicting considerations. On the one hand, the projectiles should be stored such that it is easy to remove them from their storage rack or other storage mechanism. On the other hand, the projectiles must be stored such that they are secure in their storage arrangement and will not be jarred loose by nearby explosions or while being transported along a bumpy road. Generally, the more secure a projectile is from accidental dislodgement, the more tedious it is to remove the projectile from its storage facility.
Typically, the transportation and storage of howitzer projectiles uses disposable wooden pallets holding 8 projectiles which are retained in the pallet by a wooden top and held together by steel straps or bands. The projectiles are stored and transported in the vertical position. Despite the simplicity and relative low cost of this packaging arrangement, it does have major disadvantages, especially in the field.
One disadvantage is the fact that, if only one or two projectiles are required for immediate use, the pallet must be broken (i.e., the straps removed). The remaining projectiles must be either rebanded (not always possible or convenient), or manually lifted and securely mounted aboard a vehicle for further transportation during relocation of a howitzer or for other purposes. The resecuring of the remaining projectiles is a time consuming step and could lead to the abandonment of the projectiles if an enemy attacks in force.
Another major disadvantage of the wooden pallet arrangement is that it is incompatible with the relatively new ammunition supply vehicles which require projectiles to be disposed horizontally in order to achieve maximum storage density. Further, the fusing and handling of the projectiles to load howitzers is more efficiently handled when the projectiles are disposed horizontally or almost horizontally, whereas the wooden pallet method stores the projectiles vertically.
Some of the prior art problems with storage and transportation of projectiles have been overcome by the PROJECTILE LOCK ASSEMBLY disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,528, issued Aug. 17, 1982 to Ayyala Perisastry, Richard A Vishe, and Peter J. Hoet. The projectile lock assembly disclosed in that patent uses a plurality of parallel cylindrical tubes as a rack. More importantly, a number of locking assemblies are mounted along each of the tubes and used for individually locking projectiles within the associated tube.
The projectile lock assembly is advantageous in that projectiles may be separately locked and unlocked. However, with this assembly one must individually lock and unlock each and every projectile. This process takes time which could be used more profitably under battlefield conditions.